Making Home

My root ball is feeling pinched. I think I'm outgrowing this temporary pot I'm planted in. I need to feel the limitlessness of permanency. At least indefiniteness. There is a jolt to the system when you know your time is limited. There is a sense of stability when you know time is in your hands. The last two moves I've made I knew both times were finite. In Charleston I knew only three years and Mike would have the Army send him elsewhere, and then once here, that we would only be here one. For four years I've been living Amongst without living Within. My roots need to spread and explore and touch other roots. I almost don't care where; any community!

I'm not just waiting to live, though. My work is in the university and I volunteer in the local Habitat affiliate and I shop at local stores. As a military wife, too, I feel the need to be involved because so many Army families are insulated within their Post Gates. Their soldiers use up and throw away the town, creating slums and used car dealerships for miles. Instead of aiding in the rebuilding, though, the Army families just encourage sprawl by continuing to Live and Buy further out in that new "development". I'm actually quite ashamed of what I see here in Columbus on the part of the Army. They are the reason this town is what it is and they do nothing to assuage it.

But I daydream about being a viable part of Some Community. The person who knows who is running for DA and coroner. The person who helps raise money to clean up a vacant lot and create a park. The person who participates in the weekly Farmers Market as patron and organizer. The person who helps revitalize historic buildings and rebuild buildings in shambles.

Mike and I intend to be involved in real estate. We hope to refurbish old buildings. Perhaps give new life to some outlying industrial neighborhood. We walk through Ikea thinking of the fabulous renovated apartments we could own to rent.

No one else is going to make your city better. No one is going to swoop in and give homes to the homeless, plant trees, pick-up fallen buildings, start a new restaurant, fill vacant lots, or even contribute to the schools. No one else cares about your community, especially if you do not. There are programs, government programs, which aide schools and roads and housing... but you know what those homes and schools are like and you avoid them. Government programs are not intended to replace community involvement, but to supplement it.

We'll be moving again at the end of this summer. This next move will put us in a place for four whole years. At the end of those four years Mike will be finished paying back is commitment to the Army. We intend to purchase a home when we move, and finally we feel indefinite! Because if we own, and he gets out, then the choice is ours to stay or go. I cannot wait! Even the island of Oahu needs a community that cares.